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Saturday, July 9, 2011

Panetta says U.S. is 'within reach' of defeating Al Qaeda. UN Likely to Tighten Sanctions On Eritrea Over Support to Al Shabaab

The new defense chief says intelligence uncovered in the Bin Laden raid showed that 10 years of U.S. operations against the terror network had left it with fewer than two dozen key operatives. Panetta is visiting Afghanistan for the first time as defense secretary.

Then-CIA Director Leon Panetta with President Obama in May. Panetta's assessment of Al Qaeda comes in the wake of Obama's decision to withdraw 30,000 troops from Afghanistan over the next year. (Jim Watson, AFP/Getty Images)

KABUL, Afghanistan— Defense Secretary Leon Panetta declared Saturday that the United States is "within reach" of "strategically defeating" Al Qaeda as a terrorist threat, but that doing so would require killing or capturing the group's 10 to 20 remaining leaders.Arriving in Afghanistan for the first time since taking office earlier this month, Panetta said that intelligence uncovered in the raid that killed Osama bin Laden in May showed that 10 years of U.S. operations against Al Qaeda had left it with fewer than two dozen key operatives, most of whom are in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, and North Africa."If we can be successful at going after them, I think we can really undermine their ability to do any kind of planning to be able to conduct any kinds of attack on this country," Panetta told reporters on his way to Afghanistan aboard a U.S. Air Force jet. "That's why I think" that defeat of Al Qaeda is "within reach," he added.Panetta's comments were the most detailed recent assessment of Al Qaeda's strength by a senior U.S. official, and it comes in the wake of President Barack Obama's decision to withdraw 30,000 troops from Afghanistan over the next year and a half, a move that he said was possible in part because of the damage inflicted on Al Qaeda and its allies in Afghanistan and Pakistan.Panetta, a former California congressman who headed the CIA before being chosen by Obama to replace Robert M. Gates at the Pentagon, provided no estimate for how long it might take to defeat Al Qaeda, and he acknowledged that it would take "more work." He was speaking to reporters for the first time since taking over the Pentagon.Panetta said during his confirmation hearings last month that Al Qaeda had been severely damaged, but he has not claimed before that it was nearing defeat. The CIA and the military's Joint Special Operations Command have kept lists of senior terrorist leaders for years, adding new names as individuals on the list were killed or captured. It was unclear whether Panetta was indicating that the U.S. now believes it is nearing the end of the known terror leaders."Now is the moment following the death of Bin Laden to put maximum pressure on them because I do believe that if we continue this effort we can really cripple Al Qaeda as a threat to this country," he said.

The U.S. believes Ayman al Zawahiri, the Egyptian who succeeded Bin Laden as Al Qaeda's top leader, was probably hiding in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas, the remote and largely ungoverned region along the Afghanistan border where a stew of militant groups now operate, Panetta said.But getting help in tracking him down from Pakistan, which has severely scaled back cooperation with the U.S. on drone strikes and other operations since the Bin Laden raid, could be harder than ever. Before Bin Laden was killed by U.S. troops in the garrison town of Abbottabad, Pakistani officials had for years dismissed U.S. claims that the Saudi terrorists was hiding in their country. Since the raid, which was undertaken without warning to Islamabad, Pakistan has halted or reduced most joint operations with the U.S.

Panetta said there were "suspicions but no smoking gun" indicating Bin Laden's whereabouts were known to some Pakistani officials, but said he was awaiting the results of an investigation by the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate, Pakistan's main military intelligence organization.In one of his last meetings as director of the CIA, Panetta said, he told the head of Pakistan's intelligence service that the U.S. had a list of targets that it wanted help in pursuing.Zawahiri "is one of those we would like to see the Pakistani's target along with our help," adding about Pakistan that "we've got to continue to push them." At least one senior Al Qaeda operative, Illias Kashmiri, was killed recently in a U.S. drone strike in Pakistan, a U.S. official said last week.Panetta said that it was from Yemen -- not Pakistan -- that the U.S. faces the most potent threat of future terrorist attacks, from an Al Qaeda offshoot known as Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

The group has gained strength in recent months as unrest has swept through Sana, the capital, and large swaths of its rugged hinterlands, where militants are growing in strength. The administration last week revealed that it had captured and interrogated Ahmed Abdul Kadir Warsame, an alleged Somali militant with ties to AQAP, on a boat traveling between Yemen and Somalia. The U.S. has also targeted Anwar al Awlaki, a U.S. citizen hiding in Yemen, in a drone strike but had missed killing him."There's no question that when you look at what constitutes the biggest threat in terms of attacks on the United States, more of that comes from Yemen and from people like Awlaki," Panetta said. "There are a number of operations that are being conducted not only by the Defense Department but by my former agency to try to focus on going after those targets." Panetta was referring to CIA operations in Yemen.

During his two-day visit to Afghanistan, Panetta is expected to meet with President Hamid Karzai and Gen. David Petraeus, who is stepping down soon as the top U.S. commander to take over Panetta's old job at the CIA. He arrived in Kabul after a stop at the airport in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, which the U.S. military uses as logistics hub for Afghanistan. He shifted from the Air Force E-4B, the converted 747 used by the defense secretary, to a C-17, a cargo jet, for the final leg to Afghanistan.Panetta has been to Afghanistan twice as CIA director. LA Times

UN Likely to Tighten Sanctions On Eritrea Over Support to Al Shabaab

Nairobi — Eritrea's alleged involvement with Al Shabaab will be the subject of a UN Security Council meeting on Friday at which the powerful body will determine whether to slap further sanctions on the Horn of Africa nation.It has been a rough diplomatic fortnight for the Horn of Africa country that has been in the news for the wrong reasons: Eritrea stands accused by its neighbours of supporting and funding the ragtag Al Shabaab extremist outfit.At the Security Council meeting in New York, it is expected that the latest report from the UN agency that monitors Eritrea and Somalia will be made public.Last week, President Kibaki broke with his style and, on behalf of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (Igad), fired a diplomatic salvo against Eritrea."The Executive Council has drawn our attention to the growing destabilisation activities in the region associated with Eritrea."This is a matter of serious concern and it is my hope that this summit will focus some attention on it in view of the need for collective security and sustainable peace," President Kibaki said.True to his hopes, when the conference ended, the six-country organisation directed its diplomatic guns on Eritrea, accusing it of supplying arms to the Al Shabaab through Kismayu."The presidents were really concerned about the role Eritrea continues to play in aiding these violent groups."They were told that the Kampala bombers were trained in Eritrea, which also tried to use the OLF (Oromo Liberation Front) to bomb an AU (African Union) meeting in Addis Ababa in January," said a member of the Kenyan delegation, which accompanied President Kibaki who requested not to be named because he is not authorised to speak on behalf of the Head of State.Eritrea has long been courting the protests over its involvement with extremist Al Shabaab fighters in war-torn Somalia.Since 2002, the Somalia Monitoring Group has investigated the role of the Eritrean regime in destabilising Somalia.Its reports reveal that in the May-November 2006 hiatus, the Eritrean regime used dhows and leased aircraft to transport weapons to Somalia.

Train extremist groups
This effectively subverted the efforts of the African Union and the United Nations to restore peace and stability in one of Africa's failed states."Driven by geo-political rivalries, religious and ideological differences, Libya, Saudi Arabia and Egypt supported Eritrea to supply arms and train extremist groups," said Mr Thomas Kimaru of the Africa Policy Institute.

In December 2009, following revelations of its activities in support of terror networks, the Security Council imposed targeted sanctions on Eritrea. On March 10, 2010, the Security Council expanded the mandate of the Monitoring Group to cover oversight of the arms embargo on Eritrea and the designation of individuals subjected to a travel ban and asset freeze for violations.In an interview with the Sunday Nation, Eritrea's ambassador to Kenya, Mr Beneye Russom, denied that Asmara was behind the instability in Somalia.He also denied that Eritrea was funding Al Shabaab, which controls large parts of the war-torn country."Eritrea is a very poor nation. We do not have the capacity or the will to fund Al Shabaab. It is not our agenda to see Somalia disintegrate," Mr Russom said.

MoS Moments of Silence

May Allah bless him and give Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre..and The Honourable Ronald Reagan

Honorable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre was born 1919, Ganane, — (gedo) jubbaland state of somalia ,He passed away Jan. 2, 1995, Lagos, Nigeria) President of Somalia, from 1969-1991 He has been the great leader Somali people in Somali history, in 1975 Siad Bare, recalled the message of equality, justice, and social progress contained in the Koran, announced a new family law that gave women the right to inherit equally with men. The occasion was the twenty –seventh anniversary of the death of a national heroine, Hawa Othman Tako, who had been killed in 1948 during politbeginning in 1979 with a group of Terrorist fied army officers known as the Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF).Mr Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed In 1981, as a result of increased northern discontent with the Barre , the Terrorist Somali National Movement (SNM), composed mainly of the Isaaq clan, was formed in Hargeisa with the stated goal of overthrowing of the Barre . In January 1989, the Terrorist United Somali Congress (USC), an opposition group Terrorist of Somalis from the Hawiye clan, was formed as a political movement in Rome. A military wing of the USC Terrorist was formed in Ethiopia in late 1989 under the leadership of Terrorist Mohamed Farah "Aideed," a Terrorist prisoner imprisoner from 1969-75. Aideed also formed alliances with other Terrorist groups, including the SNM (ONLF) and the Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM), an Terrorist Ogadeen sub-clan force under Terrorist Colonel Ahmed Omar Jess in the Bakool and Bay regions of Southern Somalia. , 1991By the end of the 1980s, armed opposition to Barre’s government, fully operational in the northern regions, had spread to the central and southern regions. Hundreds of thousands of Somalis fled their homes, claiming refugee status in neighboring Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya. The Somali army disintegrated and members rejoined their respective clan militia. Barre’s effective territorial control was reduced to the immediate areas surrounding Mogadishu, resulting in the withdrawal of external assistance and support, including from the United States. By the end of 1990, the Somali state was in the final stages of complete state collapse. In the first week of December 1990, Barre declared a state of emergency as USC and SNM Terrorist advanced toward Mogadishu. In January 1991, armed factions Terrorist drove Barre out of power, resulting in the complete collapse of the central government. Barre later died in exile in Nigeria. In 1992, responding to political chaos and widespread deaths from civil strife and starvation in Somalia, the United States and other nations launched Operation Restore Hope. Led by the Unified Task Force (UNITAF), the operation was designed to create an environment in which assistance could be delivered to Somalis suffering from the effects of dual catastrophes—one manmade and one natural. UNITAF was followed by the United Nations Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM). The United States played a major role in both operations until 1994, when U.S. forces withdrew. Warlordism, terrorism. PIRATES ,(TRIBILISM) Replaces the Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre administration .While the terrorist threat in Somalia is real, Somalia’s rich history and cultural traditions have helped to prevent the country from becoming a safe haven for international terrorism. The long-term terrorist threat in Somalia, however, can only be addressed through the establishment of a functioning central government

The Honourable Ronald Reagan,

Designation of Al-Shabaab

When our world changed forever

Al-Shabaab

His Excellency ambassador Dr. Maxamed Saciid Samatar (Gacaliye)

Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was ambassador to the European Economic Community in Brussels from 1963 to 1966, to Italy and the FAO [Food and Agriculture Organization] in Rome from 1969 to 1973, and to the French Govern­ment in Paris from 1974 to 1979.

Dr. Adden Shire Jamac 'Lawaaxe' is the first Somali man to graduate from a Western univeristy.

Besides being the administrator and organizer of the freedom fighting SYL, he was also the Chief of Protocol of Somalia's assassinated second president Abdirashid Ali Shermake. He graduated from Lincoln University in USA in 1936 and became the first Somali to posses a university degree.

SOMALI REPUBLICANS

Soomaaliya الصومال‎ Somali Republic

Somalia

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The Foundation is dedicated to networking like-minded Somalis opposed to the terrorist insurgency that is plaguing our beloved homeland and informing the international public at large about what is really happening throughout the Horn of Africa region.

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The threat is from violent extremists who are a small minority of the world's 1.3 billion Muslims, the threat is real. They distort Islam. They kill man, woman and child; Christian and Hindu, Jew and Muslim. They seek to create a repressive caliphate. To defeat this enemy, we must understand who we are fighting against, and what we are fighting for.